Our Legacy

Email

Serving the nation’s children for more than 145 years, Children’s National Health System has been an innovator in pediatric healthcare around the nation and around the world.

Children’s National was one of the nation's first children’s hospitals, opening in 1870 and growing from a modest 12-bed facility to a 313-bed facility that performs about 17,000 surgeries and conducts more than 450,000 outpatient visits in more than 60 specialties each year.

Formerly referred to as DC Children’s Hospital, Children’s National is the only exclusive provider of pediatric care in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

Today, the health system includes primary care health centers, regional outpatient centers, and affiliated pediatric primary and specialty care practices throughout the metropolitan area, in addition to providing tertiary care in our main hospital. Additionally, we’re home to the Children’s Research Institute and the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, as well as the Children’s National Heart Institute, the Gilbert Family Neurofibromatosis Institute, the Brain Tumor Institute, and the Obesity Institute.

Throughout our history, we have witnessed tremendous growth and change in pediatric healthcare. The current marketplace is in the midst of unprecedented change, and Children's National is committed to staying in front of the curve.

View this area to learn more about our history, our growth, and our commitment to improving care for children.

2011 to present

Second national summit is convened to advance mental health care for children.

Children's National launches "Grow Up Stronger" advertising campaign that speaks to the work we do, the families we support, and the kids we help.

Surgeons and scientists from Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Health System are the first to demonstrate that supervised, autonomous robotic soft tissue surgery on a live subject is feasible and outperforms standard clinical techniques.

Children's National launches new Congenital Zika Virus Program.

2015:

Designated for a second time as a Magnet® hospital, a designation given to hospitals that demonstrate the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery.

Children's National doctors use MR-HIFU to destroy bone tumors without scalpels or needles.

2014:

Fetal Medicine Institute opens its doors at Children's National.

Children's National convenes first-ever national summit to advance mental health care for children.

Washington Business Journal announces Children's National Health System as the most powerful brand and Kurt Newman, MD as one of the most admired CEOs in the Washington, DC metro region.

Children's National is designated as national Ebola-ready treatment center.

Children’s National launches a redesigned website to engage and inform patients and their families.

The first Sheikh Zayed Prize for Pediatric Device Innovation awards $50,000 in funding to two winners.

2013:

Children’s redefines and repositions its brand, changing the logo and name for the first time since 1985 to Children’s National Health System, which reflects how we’re no longer just a hospital, but a comprehensive health system for kids—providing everything they need for their care, whether it is well visits, or a hospitalization.

One-of-a-kind Pain Medicine Care Complex, which revolutionizes the way children are treated for pain, opens.

Seven new operating rooms open as part of a phased overhaul to the entire OR suites, bringing totals to 17 operating rooms and two GI procedure rooms.

New research space opens for the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, possible by a historic gift of $150 million from the government of Abu Dhabi - the largest gift ever made to support pediatric surgery, and one of the largest to any children's hospital.

2001 to 2010

Children’s Research Institute expands to increase research space atop the main building, allowing for researchers to better serve families with world-class bench-to-bedside care.

Sheikh Zayed Institute opens; the Institute is named in honor of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the UAE and the country's president from 1971 until his death in 2004. The medical center's main campus, the Sheikh Zayed Campus for Advanced Pediatric Medicine, is also named in his honor.

2007: New East Inpatient Tower opens, enhancing the expert, family-centered care at Children’s.